GW4 for Health Professionals (GW4-CAT HP)

A list of senior supervisors currently available to supervise projects from across the four institutions, including the University of Exeter, can be found on the GW4-CAT site.

It is not expected that you have identified a senior supervisor prior to applying for the GW4-CAT programme, but having an idea of the available supervisors in your areas of interest at the application and interview stage is strongly recommended. Candidates are particularly encouraged to have an idea/ideas for projects that the supervisors within our pool would be able to offer expert guidance on by the interview stage of the selection process.

The GW4 CAT HP invites expressions of interest to join the Senior Supervisor pool to supervise PhD candidates appointed to this scheme. If you are interested in being a Senior Supervisor, please read the guidance and email your documentation to GW4-CAT@bristol.ac.uk. 

An outline of all eligibility criteria for individual professions can be found on the GW4-CAT website, but see below for general eligibility criteria:

• Be a health professional registered with a national, health professional regulatory body in the UK or Republic of Ireland e.g. General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council.
• Academic excellence, evidence of prior and productive research experience/interest and the desire to pursue a career in clinical academia are essential.
• Applicants must be willing to travel between GW4 sites and participate in cohort activities and training.
• Not currently enrolled in a PhD programme elsewhere

The call for applications for a 2025 start will be open from the 27th November 2023 to 31st January 2024 – view a recruitment timeline.

Through a competitive recruitment process, the programme will appoint up to 5 individuals each year. Candidates will be required to complete an application form, to be followed by an interview if shortlisted. View details on the selection process.

Dr Eva Wooding, Academic Clinical Fellow in Paediatrics

Why did you decide to apply?

I knew about the programme because several colleagues had been fellows or applied through the years. I investigated the programme, spoke to people who had been through it, and read the handbook and information on their website. This felt like a really special programme for several reasons:

1. There is a pre-PhD year, which means that unlike many PhD fellowships you are able to apply to them with a focussed area of interest and ideas on your methodology, but use the pre-PhD period to work up your project more using the expert guidance available to you from the GW4 Directorate (senior academics from the GW4 institutions) and the 4 Universities (Exeter, Bath, Bristol and Cardiff).
2. You have access to supervisors across the 4 institutions and if helpful to your project can also collaborate externally. There are huge areas of strength covering just about any area of healthcare across the region so you are spoiled for choice for supervisors. There is a real focus on cross-disciplinarity in the programme; it challenges you to make your project more innovative and work across silos. This was a really exciting prospect and was an important element for my project which crosses disciplines and necessitates a joined up approach.
3. They are truly invested in you as a person and want to develop you to meet your career goals as an academic, not just in the short term. One of the foci of the application process was on how the programme will fit into your wider plans to develop your academic career. The PhD is a stepping stone in my academic career, an important element and exciting opportunity- but part of a much longer term plan rather than the end goal of itself. I felt that this programme was clear in its goal to train clinical academics, not just offer funding for PhDs. That was very much what I was looking for and it absolutely felt like the right programme for me.

How did you prepare?

I discussed my ideas in the first instance with senior academics in my institution and also e-mailed several current and past GW4 fellows. They were all happy to help (including the ones I didn’t know previously). I sent e-mails out to listed supervisors on the GW4 CAT HP PhD Senior Supervisor list who appeared to have expertise in my area of interest or proposed methods. I e-mailed my local GW4 director to have a discussion about my application and check that they agreed that this programme would be a good home for me and my project idea. GW4 ran a pre-call webinar which I attended to get more information on what they are looking for as a Board of Directors and advice for application and interview. I took time over my application as there were quite a few white space questions which took time to answer to my best ability. Once I had been shortlisted for interview I arranged to do a mock interview with senior academics from my institution. People were happy to help and it gave me a lot to think about in advance of the interview day.

What was the application process and interview like?

The application was via a fairly long form with a mixture of questions about your prior experience (effectively a deconstructed academic CV including qualifications, memberships, academic papers etc) and white space questions where you could give detail about your area of interest, possible methodological approaches, reasons for applying to this programme and your motivations for an academic career.

The interview was held in Bristol University and I knew who the panel would be from about a week in advance. The panel comprised a mixture of academics from across the GW4 institutions, members of the GW4 administration and an external Chairperson. I had to prepare a short presentation in advance, and the interview began with this. Afterwards, there was a structured interview where panel members took it in turns to ask me questions about my project, wider reading around the topic, my personal experience and motivations to apply to the programme, and how I felt the programme would add to my research and academic career. The interview was quite long, but the time went quickly because there was a lot to discuss. The questions were thought provoking and I felt a lot better prepared because of the mock interview I had previously.

What benefits does the programme bring?

The main benefits for me are the opportunity to work with academics across the 4 GW4 institutions and a mentor from the GW4 Directorate to design the best project I can, to answer the question creatively and rigorously. We are fortunate to have broad expertise and access to some really exciting resources across the region and this programme gives me access to those opportunities. I can stay true to my areas of passion (for me, paediatric mycology and epidemiology) and do my PhD whilst learning new methodological approaches and techniques that will give me skills that I can use throughout my academic career.